So I was towing my boat this weekend and while pulling the boat out of the water i ran into a steel grate which cracked and heavily dented my 20" chrome clad wheel, I am very disappointed with this wheel and that it will cost $350 to replace.

In conclusion I was looking for some wheels to replace the stock wheels I know that i need 20" 5x5.5 but what else do i need to know what is the depth of the wheel? is it 8, 8.5, 9, 10? is there anything I should know I am trying to order some wheels offline because it is MUCH cheaper than the local wheels shops.

Thanks,

 

Find some stock 17's and swap them on. 20" wheels and low profile tires are for cars - not for trucks that actually get used as trucks.

 

I don't know if I have low profile 20's or not but I certainly have the 20" wheels. So far, my 09 has 4x4'ed as well, out run, out towed and out hauled my 04 Ram with 17's. I guess I am at a loss as to where I haven't actually used my truck as a truck

 

Low profile tires mean very little sidewall and more chance of rim damage from things like rocks, curbs and potholes. Low profile big rim tires are almost always rated to carry less weight than a tire of the same diameter with smaller rims.

So when you use your truck as a truck, there is a much greater chance of tire or rim failure with the 20's and low profile tires than there is with the 17's and normal truck profile tires.

 

Well the 20's that I have are not low profile OEM and your 20 inch chrome clads are most likely 9"wide. Quite a bit of wheel well to fill. 350 and replace one rim is much cheaper than going out and buying another set of rims and tires, just be careful. Check the wreckers you might get one for 100 bucks less depending on its shape.
What do you think any other rim that got mashed as you describe it would hold out other that a black steel rim?? Chrome clad maybe you are lucky an aftermarket rim might have busted and you would have a boat towing a truck into the water.

 

Yes I would agree with you here in the case of a low profile 20" tire. I could be wrong, but I do not think the Good year P275/60R20 OWL tires that came on my Ram are low profile. The load (and speed) ratings for the 17" goodyear LT275/70R17C and the Goodyear P275/60R20 are *******ly identical.


Goodyear LT275/70R17C OWL Max Load 2600Lbs:

https://www.samsclub.com/shopping/na...409&pCatg=1531


Goodyear P275/60R20 Maximum load 2601Lbs:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...criptionAnchor

Perhaps there is some other significant spec difference I missed, otherwise I would not consider the stock Ram 20" tires to fare much worse than the stock 17'' tires in truck applications.

 

less work for the truck to spin a smaller wheel?

 

60 series is usually considered a low profile tire.

If that is the tires you have, then you're doing better than most Ram owners with the 20" wheels. All the 20's I saw locally were the craptastic Goodyear HP.

My 2wd SLT came with LT 265/70/17 BSL Goodyear SR/a which are rated for 3195 lbs.

http://www.goodyeartires.com/goodyea...=Light%20Truck

But besides the technical specs, if you drop a wheel off on a launch or smack a curb - you're much more likely to hit tire with the 17's and save yourself the damage. You also get a better selection of tires for the 17's if you want to go up a load range.

 

Yes those are the exact tires that came with my 09 4x4 Sport. Also, the 17's I listed come on some Rams as well. Yours are different and so are mine which lets me know there is, ostensibly, quite a variety of 09 Ram stock tires.
What I have I illustrated is that, in some cases, the 17' and 20' tire specs can overlap giving comparable ratings. Also, as you have illustrated, there can be advantages of one over the other depending on the tire. In the case of my 20's, I have yet to experience any performance issues due to their size (lower aspect ratio) and have not hesitated to use them anyway I used the 17's on my last truck. If there are other 20's on the Rams that are "craptastic" than I certainly would not want to have to worry about that.

As an aside, regarding the curb strike and 17's, again I suggest its all in the specific tire. I had Michelins 17" LTX series (POS!) on my 04 RAM Sport and at 2000 miles I lost one when I "clipped" a curb going round a corner. The sidewall immediately blew out and I had a flat. Upon closer examination I discovered I had also hit the outer edge of the rim and ruined it because the tire was not wide enough to prevent it. So again, it depends on the tire. I immediately replaced those POS Michelins with tires that were wide enough to prevent wheel damage on a curb strike. It is true you get a better selection with the 17's.

 

There is plenty of tire for curb rubbing if that is your turnon on the 275/60/20 that all that 20's come from the factory and I believe they all have the POS Goodyear HP .
I know this cuz I watched my wife hit the curb parking in front of my house and these are normal full height like 6 inches or so curb. and only the tire got rubbed. These are not low profile tires, Doc has low profile tires. so does the dude with the orange truck and black rims.